#001 - Jadyn Berryhill

Real estate, juggling family life, and more. Welcome to the pod gang.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:17

What's up, gang? Welcome. Welcome to the casual consulting podcast. I sit down with people who know things and we talk to you about it, and hopefully we can all learn from this conversation. Today we have uh today we have Jaden Berry Hill. Jaden, what do you do?

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Thank you. Uh I am a real estate agent in Boise and all the surrounding areas.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

There's a lot more than that. We'll get into it. Anyways, um okay. I want to start out with real estate, obviously. Um real estate's hard. I did a little research um and most real estate agents drop out within five years. What percentage of real estate agents do you think fail fail at real estate uh within five years?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

I feel like I know this. At one point I did. 80%?

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Close. 87% of real estate agents fail within five years. Why do you think that is?

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Uh 87%.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

87%. So almost nine out of ten people who become real estate agents are not real estate agents within five years because either they lose interest, it's too difficult, they can't keep up, whatever it might be. Well, yeah, what do you think that might be?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

I think real estate is uh kind of an anomaly in the barrier of entry is pretty low. I mean, you don't have to have a college degree. The courses are pretty minimal. Um, you know, they do cost money, but to get your license is pretty short and uh pretty, I don't know, like there's not a bunch of steps to do it. Yes, you have to pass the test, yes, you have to take the classes, but to get it, pretty easy. From there, you have to figure out how to build a business on top of it. And we don't get taught that in real estate school. Um, so it's kind of like you get your college degree and then you get your first job and you learn during your first job, but you have people supporting you, you have a job description. In real estate, you get your license and you see it on, you know, selling sunset, you think you just go knock on a door and you sell a three million dollar house. And that's really just so far from the actual truth. And especially if you're trying to build a long-term career, it's not just one sale makes, you know, your next 30 years of real estate career.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Yeah. I think a lot of people think that it's just kind of like a, I don't know, like you said, they're gonna, they're gonna get their license and and go and sell a house instantly and go show a humongous house in Eagle and like, hey, come buy this from me. It's like, well, it's it's it's not exactly like that. Um what was it like for you as you were getting started? Um, yeah, what was it like selling your first house? What'd that look like?

SPEAKER_00 3:05

I don't even remember what my first house was that I sold. Um I feel like my story is unique getting into real estate. I'm probably one of the few real estate agents that you'll talk to who didn't want to be a real estate agent in the first place. Um I went to school and I was pre-med, and I was maybe like some of you during the COVID times. So college, uh, my junior year spring was when COVID hit. And at that point, none of the hospitals were taking, you know, college students to shadow or do anything like that. And so I we came home. I was at school um at Whitworth University in Spokane. Came home for this extended spring break, or so we thought, and basically just had to put um applying for any type of postgrad school on hold because I couldn't get clinical hours. And in the meantime, we spent a lot of time with our family. Me and my husband were high school sweethearts. At that time, we were engaged, and his mom, Amy, had been a real estate agent since she was pregnant with him. So that was 30 years ago. And she had always kind of been poking me, like, you should get your real estate license, you should do this. And I was like, I'm pre-med, like I don't want to do that. I don't even know what you do. During COVID, I learned what she did, and I was like, I kind of just want to try it. Um, if you know me, you also know I can't sit still. So the thought of not having something lined up after college was a bit frightening. And so I ended up getting my real estate license uh January during my senior year of college, finishing my college soccer career, planning a wedding, all the things. And I just said, if I do it for a year and I hate it, I'll go back to school. And if I love it, then I'll keep doing it. Um so getting into real estate, my story was quite different. Um I had the luxury of kind of having a built-in mentor, which I think is one of the biggest keys to being a successful real estate agent, is surrounding yourself with people who have been in the industry, um, and maybe even people who haven't been in the direct real estate injury industry, but have the background of you know being a successful business person and being involved with the community, kind of all those different facets. So Amy, um, my mother-in-law, she kind of, along with my broker Alicia Ralston, who's broker owner of Ralston Group Properties where I'm at, they kind of mentored me and took me um under their wing. And I got the post-getting my real estate license training that I really needed to build a successful career because I had no idea what I was doing. I knew all the rules. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Yeah. Sounds like having a mentor was was pretty big. Um, say in a different world you didn't have those people and just kind of went into it, cold turkey. How do you feel like it it would have panned out? Do you think you would have stuck with it after that one year of like, okay, we're gonna try it? Do you feel like you would have would have still been in it? Or um, yeah, kind of what did mentorship play a role in you becoming a good real estate agent?

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Yeah. I would love to say that I'd still be in it without them, but I honestly don't think I would be. I mean, the amount of times that real estate every day, every different, you know, buyer or seller that you're helping, you are interacting with something new all the time. And I love that about it, and I don't like that about it because I'm a perfectionist. Like I like to know the answers. I had to get very comfortable with picking up the phone, being on a conversation with my client and saying, you know what, I don't know the answer to that, but let me circle back to you on that. And I'd call Amy or I'd call Alicia and say, Hey, have you ever, you know, experienced this? What did you do? Or hey, what do you think I should do about this? How do you think I should handle this? You know, whether that be a an offer come in and it's written with a lot of different um complexities in it, or something that came up on an inspection and I hadn't seen it before. Um I think I could have found other mentors, um, but I don't think that without any type of mentor I would have been able to keep going because it's a lonely career.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

It is. I mean, so I was 22 when I got started.

unknown 7:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

It's the first job I've had, the only job I've had post-grad. And all my friends were in the same season of life. They all were working at, you know, accounting firms, marketing firms, all the companies where you have coworkers. And you're going to get happy hour after dinner, and you're sitting next to somebody all day and just kind of like having that constant community around you, and you know, people just to banter with. You don't have that really in real estate. I mean, I'm a pretty social person, and there were days where I would literally not talk to anybody when I was starting my career. And then you start realizing, you know, what you need to do in order to set your days up and what that looks like, but you don't have anybody telling you how to do that. You don't have a boss you're reporting to. You don't have somebody, you know, giving you daily tasks, and it ends up looking different for every real estate agent. Um, but it's a pretty lonely career if you don't really realize that and take a hold of it. Um, because there's days when you're with clients all day, and then there's days where maybe you're not for a week or two.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah. I hear you. On that same thread of like it being a lonely career and also like being alongside your peers who maybe went and got that corporate job and started getting a salary right away, right? When you first started, you were probably making close to nothing, right? Until you were selling houses. And tell me about what it was like, because I know I went through a similar thing, like starting your own business after college and not going that corporate route. It's like all of your peers are they got that instant gratification of getting a degree and getting a job. But for somebody in your shoes, it was like you got a degree, you've been grinding, grinding, grinding all this, and then it's like, okay, back to zero. We're at literally base level, haven't made any money yet. Um, it's hard.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

Right? How was that for you? Did you like look around and have some FOMO and like, man, maybe I should have gone into healthcare and you know, secured this for sure money? Yeah, what was that like?

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Yeah. Well, I remember telling my parents that I was gonna go into real estate. And my parents are just the best. I mean, they're so supportive. They never once questioned it, but they did ask me, you know, some hard questions of exactly that. Like, well, have you thought about, you know, you're not going to have a stable paycheck, or have you thought about you're not gonna have, you know, insurance or 401k matches? And I think people jump into real estate without ever thinking about that, or into just entrepreneurship in general. And it's legit things you have to think about. I mean, our job is what, you know, sets us up for our lifestyle, or, you know, if you're married, your partner, if you have kids, all of that different things. Um, so I started thinking about that very early on when I started, you know, comparing, not comparing, but like having conversations with my friends about their careers versus mine, I quickly realized how different it was in terms of, you know, some of my busiest days are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Whereas for my friends, that's their off time and they can put their phone down and not think about work once. Whereas, you know, really, and I say this in a good way because I do like this about my job, but I can't get away from work unless I choose to put it away and say that can wait. Um, so there'd be times on like a Tuesday afternoon where I didn't have anything to do, and you know, my husband's at work and my friends are at work, and it's like, all right, Philo, you want to go on another hike? It's our third one of the day. Um, that was weird and it was hard. And it also makes you question, you know, are you doing enough? And I think as somebody who likes to do a lot and, you know, likes to achieve, uh, that was tough to wrestle with. Um, but also at the end of the day, that's the luxury of, you know, kind of being in an entrepreneur role, is when it's busy, it's really busy and you kind of have to ride that. But when it's slow, you kind of got to take a deep breath and take advantage of it because it's not always gonna be like that. And uh that was encouragement. I needed a lot during my first couple years from Alicia and Amy.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Is that is what?

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Is when it's slow, enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

And don't just try to fill it with busy work that, you know, might not actually be productive.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

I hear you. I think in a role like yours where you're working weekends, you're working evenings, you're working around this corporate nine to five to help those people. Um there is like, there's such a gray area of like, okay, when can I relax? When can I work?

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

Um, yeah, and work-life balance gets thrown around a lot. How do you feel? How do you feel about work-life balance and and what does that look like for you?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Um it's a constant learning curve. And there's some weeks when I'm really good at it, and some months where it just goes out the window. I think the biggest thing for me is I really, really love what I do. And I think it's a privilege to be able to say that. Um, the people I work with, I mean, my business is 100% referral. So, you know, if I'm helping my sister buy a house, she doesn't live here, maybe one day I'll get her to. If I'm helping her buy a house, I get to spend time with my sister and like my nephew and niece and my brother-in-law. How cool is that watching them like go through the this transition of, you know, finding their house they're gonna live in for 15 to 20 years, that I crave that and I love it. And yes, sometimes that does make me kind of put, you know, things that I want to do or maybe some family time on the back burner. And on the flip side, once they found that home or once there's a little bit of a lull within, you know, clients I'm helping, then shifting my perspective of okay, I have a break with work right now. Now I need to focus on my family, or I need to focus on, you know, me and that work-life balance. So it definitely every day, every week is a learning curve. I've gotten better at it. And also sometimes it feels like I've gotten worse because when I started this career, I was newly married and had a puppy. Now we're celebrating our five-year anniversary of being married, and we have a two-year-old. And there's some days where I just want to, you know, I miss Jackie so much and I don't get to see her. And you start to question, I think, as a working mom, whereas 80% of my friends who were working and have now become moms are stay-at-home moms, which is beautiful. I think that's, you know, if you feel called to that, it's a total gifting. Um, and I think if you feel like you want to be a working mom, you still sometimes struggle with that feeling of, you know, am I seeing my daughter enough or my kids enough? How am I showing up as mom in their life? So I think my work-life balance has started to uh shift a little bit more as she gets older too. Because, you know, she only naps one time a day now, whereas she used to nap three times a day. So it was like I had a lot of time where Jackie was asleep. Um and when she was a newborn, I didn't take any leave because she just came with me. Because they sleep like 20 hours a day. I mean, it was so easy. Um, but yeah, it's hugely important. And I noticed that when I don't have a work-life balance and everything's work, you know, you start to drop the ball sometimes during work because you're not giving yourself enough uh time and space to really come back rejuvenated and pour into your clients.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

Nice. Um yeah, I think it's hard with with what you do to balance that. Uh how do you think you would feel as a stay-at-home mom?

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Uh, you know, I think I think I'd need a lot of grace. I think I definitely think that uh I need an outlet. And I have a great job that, you know, lets me do both. And so I'm really thankful for that. It'd be a different story if, you know, maybe I was working, you know, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and didn't see her all day. But yeah, I think uh the Lord gives everyone different giftings. And right now I feel very called to the workplace um and being Jackie's mom. And I think I'd need to uh learn a lot to be just staying at home.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

I think you get pretty bored. I think you get pretty bored. That's just me.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Yeah, I mean you stay busy, but yeah, it'd be different. But yeah, I'm just so grateful for a job where I really do feel like I can do both.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

Yeah, that's cool. In terms of um like getting your priorities right between family and taking care of yourself and taking care of the kid and taking care of business. Um, do you feel like there was like any one thing that really kind of made it click or kind of helped you balance all those things?

SPEAKER_00 16:13

I mean, I think uh, you know, we live in a very busy culture and uh, you know, do do do, the grind don't stop, whatever you want to call it. And it's really easy to get caught up in that as an entrepreneur. And, you know, both Gibson and I kind of having our own businesses, we definitely fall into that. Um, and so having people around you that are kind of you know, keeping you in check of you're not just made to work 24-7. Yes, like what I do is so important and who I help is so important. And again, I I love it. And at the same time, work is not who we are and all that we are. Um, I think that is one of the things I always come back to is like, okay, what was I made for? Yes, I I was made to work and I feel like I'm called to do this type of work, but also who is Jaden? She's more than you know, a real estate agent. And sometimes you fall into, you know, I own a gym or I am a real estate agent. Because it's the first question usually we ask somebody when we meet them, what's your name? What do you do? And uh not just identifying as that has been huge. And I'm thankful I get to wear a lot of hats. I mean, it's kind of fun.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

It is. That's cool.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Anyways, moving on. Um so we do a segment on our show. It's called Here's a Random Asked Gift. So I got you a present. Um, and maybe this might spur some memories or something, but um Oh. Here you go. This is for you. And um Thank you. What can you tell us about goldfish, Jaden?

SPEAKER_00 17:52

This is amazing. Um, I haven't had one of these for probably 10 years. A box, a true carton of goldfish.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Shall we?

unknown 18:02

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Yeah, let's let's do it. Uh what can I tell you about them?

SPEAKER_02 18:06

What can you tell me about goldfish?

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Goldfish was it might still be, I don't know, we're gonna find out right now. Like my snack. Um the OG, the flavor blasted, you know, the pretzel mix of flavor blasted.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

I just got the traditional this time, but oh yeah, they're good.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

They're still good.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

It ain't broke, don't fix it. You know? Sponsor us, goldfish, sponsor us.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

These are like the hardest things to open. So we have 10 views. I was nervous. You did a good job.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

What can I tell you about goldfish? I just used to eat goldfish like all the time. Like, you know, you get home from school, you need an after-school snack, pre-practice snack, goldfish.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

After dinner, goldfish.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

I see. Did you ever like mix them with anything or like did you ever have any incidents with goldfish?

SPEAKER_00 19:14

I mean, I'm trying to think who you talk to. I hate gum. Is that the story you got? Okay. I like I hate gum, and it does come back to goldfish. I always forget about this. One day, I blame it on my sister. I don't know. I I'm assuming it was her. I like went in to go pack my lunch and snack in grade school. I mean, I was probably like seven. This has been a this is a 20-year hate of gum. And there was like a pre-made, like already ready to go, little like sandwich baggie full of goldfish. I was like, wow, like someone's looking after me for today. They already packed my snack. This is sweet. So I grabbed the bag, put it in my lunchbox, and then I'm eating my snack during recess, and I start to smell like something that was not goldfish. And uh in the little corner of the baggie, somebody had put their gum, but then goldfish on top. I don't even know, I still don't know to this day, like how does that work? And yeah, that was like the start of my hate to gum. I like literally get repulsed by people chewing gum, and it has nothing to do with that person. It's just like, I don't know, the the combo of the goldfish and the gum that day, it was not it. And it for 20 years has stood, I don't chew gum, and I kind of hate it.

unknown 20:39

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

That's crazy. I forgot about that story.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

My source told me that you like threw up in class. I don't know if that was a tall tale or not.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

No.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Oh. I've been misled.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Yeah, no, I didn't throw up in class. Maybe I no.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Well, I should have. Who's your source?

SPEAKER_02 21:00

Nah, don't worry about it. That's the end of that segment. Here you go, Jay. That's for you. You can until Goldfish sends us $50,000.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Yeah, so don't chew gum around me.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Yeah. Um Okay. Anyways, moving on here. Um I have a math problem for you.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Are you ready?

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

Um it's a bit of a word problem. Here's how it goes. Small, smart choices plus consistency plus time equals success. Radical difference. That's a quote from the book uh The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. Which uh which I I believe you were a fan of that book. Um The Compound Effect. What have uh what have small smart choices plus consistency plus time done for you and how has that helped you in life and career?

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Uh I've never really been much of like a big goal setter. I mean, there's times in my life I've done it, but I kind of just like the day-to-day. Like I don't really like vacation because I just really like my day-to-day life. Uh so when I was getting started in my career, I read this book, and it is it's such a good book. I mean, it was life-changing. That was six years ago, and I still come back to it. But um, the idea basically behind the compound effect is the small choices you make every single day, just like that equation, compound across however long to, you know, big successes or big achievements. Um without you just, you know, waking up one day and saying, I'm gonna go run a hundred-mile ultra marathon. It's uh, you know, I guess using that kind of analogy, it would be, you know, today I'm gonna go run three miles and tomorrow I'm gonna run three miles and kind of thinking about uh what small choices can I make now to better me in the long run. And so during my career, like I said, when you get started and just in our industry in general, nobody's really telling you how to run your days or how to um really like generate business. That's what it is. Um and I was pretty lost. I mean, I was a student athlete my whole life. It was, you know, you wake up at six, you go to conditioning, you go to class, then you go to practice, then you go study. You have like every hour of your day pretty much lined out for you. And uh I didn't have that when I started working, so I had to kind of create it. So I clung on to the compound effect of just a reminder of the small habits you make and commit to every single day are going to add up and help you in the long run. You don't have to just, you know, make this big sale like a lot of people get into real estate for. And that was never my goal getting into real estate, honestly. I just wanted to help people and be involved in the Boise community and uh make others find the love for Boise that I had. Um, and most of the time that comes through houses. Um, but yeah, so so little things. I mean, combat effect and what it looks like in my my daily life is uh, you know, I set a time aside time in the morning for quiet time. And for me, that's you know, reading the Bible, reading a book, and doing a little bit of journaling and some breath work. When I don't do that, I notice a big difference in just like that one day because it just sets me up for you know a clearer day. I'm more at peace. Um in, you know, my physical self. Um hike, I usually hike an hour a day and like do CrossFit or high rocks. Um, and for me, that just kind of like that's my me time, and that's my time where I can put my phone away and just commit to focusing on what I need to do to then step back into work, step back into being a mom, being a wife. Um, and you know, that's not just going out and running 50 miles a day. It's little things. And then for work, um, you know, just being very committed in okay, what tasks do I need to do today for this specific client? You know, if we're under contract, let's touch base with them today and just make sure they're getting all their questions answered. Um, because I don't really have anything big to check in with them about, but that's okay because really the process of buying a home, sometimes there's days where you are kind of just waiting because there's a lot of different parties involved. Um, or hey, it's uh, you know, my past client's birthday. I really want to feel them, make them feel loved. And I've already, you know, a week ago gone ahead and made sure I put in um all their birthdays so that I can remember to just like touch on them and love on them. Um whether or not it has to do with them buying a house, I don't really care. I just want to make that person feel loved. And so little things like that. Um, you know, for me, it's not sitting down and just grinding out a hundred cold calls. Um, for some people it is, and that's okay, but that's just not necessarily how I've uh yeah, one of the small habits I've I've built in.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Gotcha. I like it. Yeah, I think in your industry with what you're doing, it's not like you run a convenience store and somebody can come in one time and like purchase a whatever drink and then leave. Yeah. Right. It's like you do have to work and you do have to have all these little actions that lead to eventually people when they're ready to buy a house, which might be six months down the road from now, or a year, or two years, or five years, and they think, who would I want to help me buy this house? And they have to think, Jaden, right? And so, yeah, I think it is those little actions of like touching people, you know, every day where they're they're thinking of you or you know, doing the right thing and being around for them to be like, oh yeah, I want to go with Jaden, because I feel like we live in such a world of like use this AI hack and make 10K in a weekend, or you know, I built this funnel to generate 20K a month and you can do it in a weekend. It's like, well maybe, but it's that's not the case in your industry. And I think a lot of those are blown smoke as well, anyway. Yeah. Um yeah, so in terms of like uh I think for you a big part of your business is that relationship building. You are a local, you're involved in a lot of things, you're involved in church groups, you're involved in different gyms, you're involved in run clubs. Um, what does that kind of look like for you in terms of going to those things and how have has being involved in community helped you with what you're doing?

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Yeah. Yeah, I uh I wouldn't say like I I follow, you know, I don't have like a real estate coach or anything like that, but I do um like his name's Tom Ferry. And one thing he says is kind of just this phrase that I've always held on to, but like being the digital mayor of your city or your town. And uh I don't have to fake it because I I love Boise uh and I'm really honored to live in a place that I love. Um I don't think I would be doing the career uh that I'm in if I didn't love Boise as much as I do. And so getting to be involved with the Boise community and whatever that looks like um is just a joy, and you don't have to fake being joyful when you're at those places. And that's why so many people are moving here is because it's awesome and I get to help them, you know, find where they're gonna thrive in Boise. Um, a lot of people who move here, they don't go outside of their bubble of like their little rental. Like some people haven't even heard of, you know, my favorite restaurants. And to me, that's crazy, but like their lens of Boise is so different, and it's awesome because like there's so many parts that we all don't experience. Um so I like to fill my days with being around people, and that does look like being around different things in Boise, like yeah, run clubs, um different church groups, uh going to play pickleball randomly at a park, you know, taking um my dog hiking and actually like not being on my phone and looking up and talking to people on the trails and meeting really cool people. I met some of my best friends because we have the same type of dog. Literally met them on the trail and like we just started hanging out. Um, Orange Theory, CrossFit Casual. Uh, we've also met some of our best friends on like airplane rides back to Boise or at a restaurant in Boise. The idea of just like putting down your phone or like looking up and connecting with people is sometimes really foreign to our generation because we're just here all the time. Um it's like life gets so much better when you do that. And uh my husband is very, very good at that, and I try to be a lot better at that too. Um and life's just better with other people. And so, yes, of course, it it is part of my business of I like to connect with people and whatever that that looks like. And eventually I hope that I earn the trust and we have the relationship that when they do come to buy or sell at home, they want to work with me purely because they trust me and they know how that's gonna look. And I've done my job in, you know, just showing up for them and maybe talking to them about the home buying process if they're a buyer, because really none of us ever get taught that. Um, and a lot of times I have those conversations with people like over coffee or over a drink a year before they are ready to buy a house. And, you know, that's what I'm here for. And I would so much rather have that conversation and let them know that I could care less if they buy a home. If they decide Boise's not it for them, great. If they decide for some reason, you know, that we're not a good fit, um, that's okay too. Like as long as I just get to help them feel equipped to make whatever that decision is, um, I feel like I've done my job. And thankfully, it is mostly helping people that I've met at different things around Boise.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Yeah, I was gonna ask, um, like how, like what percentage of people that buy from you or buy with you are people who you've kind of met organically. And I it's probably a lot, right?

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Yeah. Yeah. So um I, well, I have a business partner, Amy, I mentioned her earlier. She's my mother-in-law, and she's amazing. And uh so we we both work with our clients, but um, it's kind of uh like one person takes the lead depending on the clients, and the others just kind of see seeds so that you know if I go out of town or you know, uh Jackie's sick one day or something like Amy can pick off, pick up where I left off, and it doesn't, you know, make our client uh not see a house at that specific time that we were planning on. Needless to say, our business is a hundred percent referral. I think in my career I've only had maybe three clients that didn't have some sort of connection with us. And those were two from an open house or open houses and one from a sign call, meaning we had the listing, they called us, and they didn't end up necessarily buying that listing. Um, but then we built a relationship and helped them find the right house. So uh I don't know, that's probably 99.5% is from uh some way or shape or form. I knew them.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

That's so cool. Yeah, I think I think going to these social gatherings, obviously it's fun to go to them. And I want, you know, you and I both want to go to these things and see our friends and and you know, say what's up and meet new people who are are like-minded and doing the same things as us. But also, which you probably don't even think about this, but there is that tiny little secondary thought of like, oh, maybe I'll meet someone and they'll want to support my business or want to do business with me. And I think that's awesome. I think also like having a business that you represent, so for you it's your real estate business, in some ways it also just makes you like a better person. You have something to stand for that's like bigger than yourself, too, you know? Yeah, and I think that's so cool. I think it's so cool too that like you go and do all those things just because like that's just what you do. And if it just if somebody happens to want to buy a house along the way, cool. But it's like you're gonna go anyway, just to like have a good time and see the people. Yeah. Um, yeah, so I think that's pretty sweet. Um, being the digital mayor, I wanted to touch on um, are you the digital mayor of voicing?

SPEAKER_00 33:39

No. No. There are so many people who do it so much better than me. And uh that was something I struggled with in the beginning of like, you know, you don't really get into a career and think that you're gonna use social media. And uh I did not know what that was gonna look like for me. And it's vulnerable putting yourself out there and you know, filming yourself and hearing yourself talk on video. And uh I wrestled, like what that was gonna look like for me, how I was gonna show up. And really the question was like, how do I make this authentic? How do I make it feel like, you know, if you're watching something of mine, it's like, oh, like you know her, it's not just a show. Or how do I make my, you know, for me it's really Instagram is what I use, but how do I make my Instagram feel like it's just authentically my business? And you'd feel this way if you were like just out seeing houses with me. Um yeah, it was tough. And it was, it's like none of my other friends are having to post videos, not having to, but they're not posting videos to really promote their business, especially at that time. I'd say things have really shifted towards more of like the personal brand, content creator, whatever in the past year. Um, but six years ago, people did not do that. Even real estate agents, which now all of us are kind of, you know, on Instagram highlighting different cool things about Boise, walking you through what it looks like to buy or sell a house. Um, but I do do my best to just make it authentic and really just use it as a, you know, connecting with people. Like I love it. I have got to connect people that I haven't talked to for like 12 years, just through Instagram and nothing to do with my business. And I just think that's so cool. Um, but yeah, I really do like to just pour into local businesses, um, ones that we really do love. It's not like I ever go somewhere that I don't actually really like. Um but thankfully I pretty much like everywhere in Boise and just kind of hype them up and like let other people know like this place is here, you should go try it out, and this is what they're all about. And then of course there's sprinklings in some things about you know the market or stories of clients we've helped, or um, you know, sometimes I'll do like first-time homebuyer seminars, so promoting promoting those things. But yeah, I'm not the digital mayor. I think I could always do better, but I do uh I do try my best to, you know, promote things around Boise and I don't know, just like I said, make people fall in love with it or show them why we're so lucky to live here.

SPEAKER_02 36:08

Yeah, that's cool. I think you do a great job. So yeah, and it does feel very, very authentic, which I think it's it's pretty easy to spot when it's not when someone's just trying to sell a house. Yeah. You know? Um, and I feel like your stuff is not that. So known. Um are you friends with other real estate agents?

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Yeah? How is that?

SPEAKER_00 36:31

How is that how is that? Um yeah, I I mean, like I said, real estate can be a lonely career um or industry. And I just think we're lucky. Like all of the agents I've worked with in Boise, you know, if I'm helping the buyer, the listing agent, or vice versa, are just really awesome. Um and there have been more younger agents. When I first got into the career, I kind of felt like this lone horse of interacting with like all of the older agents, um, which again, I've learned so much from them. But, you know, we do have very different um styles of doing doing things. And so it's been cool to connect with other agents who are younger and you know, kind of look at things a different way, and specifically like in terms of marketing and social media. But um yeah, I mean, I I am very competitive. I mean, if you've ever worked out with me or anything uh surrounding board games, you'd know that. And so that's been uh a good like growth piece for me of you know, there is more than enough business for everybody, and um, there's just some really cool people who are real estate agents. So yeah, I'm lucky to be friends with them.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

That's cool. Yeah, I think it's uh there's very much abundance of of housing in Boise going up. So um I think that's a good thing. Would you want to do this anywhere else? Could you see yourself doing real estate anywhere else? Or or how would that go if you did go somewhere else and and try to start up again?

SPEAKER_00 38:00

Yeah. Uh we just don't see ourselves ever leaving Boise. But um I would love to, we do a little bit of work in McCallinson Valley. Um I would love to do more work in McCallinson Valley, um, especially just as I get older. I mean, maybe we're not snowbirds, but like we live in McCall for part of the year. Um and really to serve those areas well, you need to know them like the back of your hand. Like I know Boise here. So um that's definitely a goal of mine is learning Sun Valley and McCall McCall better. Um but yeah, I don't know if I could really see myself like thriving as a San Diego real estate agent.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Be tough. It'd be different, right? You have such a reputation and like you know, you know Boise, right? And it's like people want to buy from people who know Boise. So it gives you a good upper hand. Um I got another quote for you. Uh this is from Rich Dad Poor Dad. Uh Have you read Real Estate Book?

SPEAKER_00 38:56

I I I listened to it.

SPEAKER_02 38:57

Okay, nice.

SPEAKER_00 38:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

Um the quote goes uh when it comes to money, high emotions tend to lower financial intelligence. You're dealing with a lot of emotional buyers in the in the real estate world, which is interesting because for most people it's like uh the largest financial decision they'll ever make in their whole life yet so much emotion hinges on which house to buy. Or do we even buy a house or in this neighborhood or in that neighborhood, or a three-bed or two-bed?

SPEAKER_01 39:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

Right? Um how do you stay level-headed? I'm sure you've dealt with some people who are just all over the place and emotional and making making decisions here and there. Um, yeah, maybe any examples of emotional buyers or or how you've dealt with people who are maybe a little stressed or anxious about buying a house.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

Yeah. I mean, it is a very, very emotional process. Um and it's very different from person to person. I mean, I have clients who are engineers and they're just always so like so calculated about everything. But then it's funny because I'll be telling them, like, when we find the house, like it's going to feel different. It may not be like this super high high that it is, you know, for some people who are, I don't know if you're familiar with the Enneagram, but like if you're an Enneagram nine, you typically they're the peacemakers. A lot of times they have kind of more, uh, they're in touch with their emotions. It may not feel like they're high, high, but for an engineer type brain, it's still gonna feel different. Um and it's not just financial because when you walk into your house, your home, when you own it, like you just it it feels different than walking into a rental. Um, so there is emotions tied to it at different levels with whoever you are. Um now it does become more highly emotional, you know, when we're on a time crunch or when you only want this specific house, but there's nine offers on it. Um it's just so different for every single person. But yeah, we've had a lot of different um emotions. Um, you know, there was there's one where uh we had these clients who it took them a year and literally a year, pretty much to the day from when I first met with them and they talked to a lender and we built a game plan of like what they needed to do to get pre-approved. A year later they call us and they had done every single thing. And I think at the time they were 19 and 20, just like on it. And they had, I think he was two at the time, a two-year-old son. And we, yeah, yeah. And we started looking at houses, and they just, I mean, to do all of what they needed to do in a year was just like, wow, like you are amazing. Hands down to you, such a commitment to like wanting to buy a house. And we started touring houses, and you know, sometimes with clients, we're looking at, you know, a house that pops up on a weekend and we do that for six months. Other clients, it's like, we have three weeks to buy a house, we're going to see everything in this little bubble that we, you know, want to see. So I think we had spent like three days back to back to back, and they really wanted to find the one. And uh their son came with us every single time. And there are some times where he wouldn't even go into the houses. And then sometimes he'd go in and be like, okay, let's leave. And then when we got to the house that they ended up buying, he before they ended up writing an offer, he went in and he just started like rolling around on the carpet and like just loved this house. And there was nothing like, I mean, it was a great house, but it was not that different than everything we had been seeing. And I mean, just if you don't have a kid, if you do have a kid, imagine your future kid or your kid now, like that does something to you when you watch that and thinking about like I could be raising my family in this house, and he's already feeling that. That was so cool. And like one of the best moments I've had of kind of seeing uh how it's truly like if you have a family, it's more than just like one person's decision, and this little two-year-old kind of made them see themselves at home. Um, and then we've had had others where, you know, like we had one where uh a lot of times in today's market, people need to sell their house if they own one to then buy their next one. And that can get really tricky, um, basically because everything's really important in terms of timeline. And we had one where we knew their house was gonna sell pretty quick. Like this thing was so cute in a great area, and it did sell really quickly. And we found them a home and then they decided that that next home just was not for them. So they had to make the hard decision, but important decision to just take a breath and pause and say, we're not gonna rush into buying a home just because we're supposed to. Um, and I got to encourage them in that of hey, if this like is not the right house to you, then let's just pause. And so they ended up, we sold their house, they ended up getting a rental for about a year. And they were like happy as could be in the rental. And during that time, they really got to. figure out like what do we want our next home to look like? Like maybe we don't need this. And they actually did shift kind of what they were looking for. And then a year later we just helped them buy um the home that they'll probably be in for the next, you know, five to ten years. Who knows? And they could not be happier. But it is pretty different than the other house that they were, you know, originally gonna step into. So it's important to, I mean, I wear a lot of hats as a real estate agent, but truly um like being in touch with my people's, my clients' emotions is such a big part of it because I I hate when people say like I'm in the sales industry because I truly am not. I don't tell you what house to buy, like I don't care if you buy a house or um if you buy this house. It is like a true advisor role and like walking through your clients, you know, through all of these different things that happen from the point of okay I'm ready to buy or sell a house to then actually handing over the keys or getting the keys. Just so much that happens in between there. And so uh yeah I mean there's lots of days where I play play counselor and it's a gift to be given the trust to step into that role.

SPEAKER_02 45:14

That's cool. 19 and 20 I'm like man when I was 19 and 20 I was playing Fortnite I was in the dorm rooms I was hanging out.

SPEAKER_00 45:22

I know I I didn't even I don't even think I knew they were 19 and 20 until like we were pretty close to closing day.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

Wow. I was like you're how old Wow that brings up and also you said people feel like they they an obligation to buy a house or like they need to buy a house right there's like this synthetic order of operations of life of like go to school, go to college get a degree get a job find a significant other get married buy a house have a kid right it's like okay here's your checklist of life obviously buying a house is on there some people might even argue that at 19 and 20 maybe buying a house is a bad financial decision. How do you feel about like do you ever meet with people who want to buy a house or perhaps for their situation maybe buying a house isn't the right play for them or are you team buy a house as a financial as like an investment? What are your thoughts on on all that?

SPEAKER_00 46:22

I am team finding out all of the options and the numbers before you make your decision. So one of my favorite things to do is sit down with you know people that are interested in buying a home and usually the question is like I just want to learn more about the process or I want to learn more about getting pre-approved because that's the first step to kind of buying a home is figuring out financially like where do we lie? Because we want to set ourselves up for success. We don't want to be on Zillow or going through open houses and seeing homes that are maybe at a price point that like you cannot afford or if you can't afford it, you step into this very, very not good situation of being house poor and all of a sudden you have to eat top ramen for five years. Like that is not the goal. So sitting down with people having the conversation of like okay here's what it looks like to buy a house here's what it looks like to get pre-approved then stepping in and talking with a lender usually I connect them you know I have lots of different lender partners but really just having the first conversation with a lender and having them run numbers then you can go you know try out a bunch of different lenders after but figuring out and getting clarity of where you're at financially to see okay this is what I pay for rent this is what I would be paying for my mortgage which doesn't include utilities how do those line up together okay is it worth it if buying a house this payment's going to be you know $300 more a month versus my rent well I can do that and all of this is going towards my house versus this lower payment that's going towards my landlord's house. Okay great like I see the numbers and I want to do this one. Then from there if they do make that decision we come back together and we start talking about okay what's important to you? Location to me that's number one just because you can't change it, you can pretty much change everything else about a house. And then we kind of narrow it down from there. Like you said like do I need three bedrooms? Do I need two bathrooms? Is this a three-year buy or is this a 13 year buy? But yeah and absolutely if people see those numbers especially like some of us you know we're looking at buying a house when interest rates were in ultimate low during COVID. Well what your friends bought in 2020 2021 compared to what you're gonna be pre-approved for now or maybe you bought in 2020 and now you're looking at your second home, those interest rates are so different that your buying power just goes down. So that's an important thing I like to kind of say too is like don't compare you know your situation to maybe your friend's situation or your brother's situation six years ago because things are so different. And yeah and again if we get those numbers back and like buying a house just does not seem feasible or maybe there's things they need to work on like credit card debt or you know then we build a game plan from there and it's okay let's press pause on this for a little bit you have a great rental situation keep that and start working on what we need to to get a pre-approval.

SPEAKER_02 49:25

Gotcha I see yeah I think too um kind of touching back on emotional buyers and and should I buy should I not buy um I feel like you are pretty affected by world events and ambiguity in the markets and is a is this war going to start what's up with AI what is happening in the world right now have you felt any like pushback from possible buyers or how's that kind of affected you with people wanting to buy or not wanting to buy yeah I would say just recently um one data point that's been interesting because you know our clients are everywhere from 19 to 79 like we don't really have just like oh I just work with a first-time buyer um it's been interesting to see the generational uh differences I would say like in the past couple months with what's been happening in the economy and you know kind of just international relations uh we have noticed that people our generation are kind of unaffected and people in the older generation are really kind of pressing pause and saying I don't know if this is really like a good time that I want to buy or I want to you know change move my money around those generational differences are are pretty big. It's interesting right I feel like our younger generation is like I don't want to say immune to what's going on but if we just care less like that older generation grew up watching the news and grew up very involved in in international and world happenings and and what's going on here. And speaking for myself I don't really I live here I'm here I take care of my own business and whatever happens in the world like it happens maybe it'll affect me maybe not um yeah it's really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

Yeah and I think part of that is you know it's a pretty privileged thing for us to be because I would put myself in that same boat. Like it's a pretty privileged thing to be able to say that and you know I I went to my grandpa's the other day and I mean he always has the news on like I don't think he knows how to change a channel. But then you think about to like what okay why is he that way? Like what did he go through when he was he was younger you know there was they just went through different things um and we had it pretty cush. I mean we do just kind of go through our lives and like unless it's on our algorithm we're really not like going out to search for it. Whereas um I think they just have you know maybe a bit of like a a scarcity mindset or you know they had um just different experiences that we didn't when we were younger and so they're influenced in a different way and uh it shows still and definitely in real estate because again it is that huge you know financial uh decision and highly emotional because I'd say for a lot of our clients kind of like my grandpa's age that um sense of possibly losing some of your freedom when maybe you need to step into assisted living that's hard and that's a really tough thing to walk through um because that's a whole family decision and for them that's that's stepping into the season of life that you don't really think about until you're you're there. Yeah that's that's another hard emotional one.

SPEAKER_02 52:31

That is that's tough.

SPEAKER_00 52:33

Yeah different seasons and you're right we have had a cushion I guess we never grew up with a war going on or like or at least a war that was like directly affecting right our day-to-day um yeah it's a good take interesting um for people who might be in the market to maybe buy their first home or yeah for people who might be in the market to buy their first home any tips any advice yeah I would say um all the questions no question is uh dumb I get that a lot sorry if this was a dumb question I'm sorry if I'm bugging you too much one there's no question that's dumb two you're never bugging me um I am super passionate about helping people just learn about the home buying process one because it looks different for everybody two because we are not taught anything yes our parents are like you know great uh teachers of their own experience but at least my parents they haven't really bought or sold a house in probably 15 ish years and the market's changed a lot from then to now so um yeah reach out whether it's to me or some other real estate agent like sit down and just ask them questions that you're interested about and then like I said get connected with the lender and just have the conversation of what does this look like for me financially um now and then if now's not the time to buy do that again in six months or in a year because things do change with interest rates you know maybe you pay off certain debts or you get a promotion in your career. It's worth just exploring what it would look like whether or not that means you're going to buy a house this year or not.

unknown 54:15

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 54:16

I like it how can people get a hold of you uh preferred is just text text or call um but Instagram too I don't have a separate real estate account um everything's just uh under my personal which I don't know is it I think it's Jaden.berryhill I think so J-A-D-Y-N name's pretty tough to spell um but yeah just DM me on Instagram or uh text me. I don't know my number's probably on my Instagram if not just just Google it it's up there.

SPEAKER_02 54:47

There it goes I'll speak on behalf of Jaden Jaden helped me buy my first home and it was like so easy for me. It was so easy I was like Jaden what is this? She's like I'll do this. Jaden what I'll feel this okay okay like in the signing room like getting my thing I'm like Jaden what am I here? I was like let me talk to my age real quick.

SPEAKER_00 55:08

We had fun with yours though we had some late night negotiations. That was an interesting one.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

Yeah there was it must have been an emotional buyer on the other end who didn't know what they wanted.

SPEAKER_01 55:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 55:19

Yeah Jaden crushes she's awesome um man any final words any final thoughts uh no this is really fun I feel like you guys I mean this this is like you know me you know me with this but no I would just say um I mean one thanks for putting this on I think it's just awesome um I know you love Boise community and local businesses just as much as I do so I'm excited to listen to the next uh however many episodes all of them um but two yeah I would just say uh thankful for everybody who's uh part of this little community and culture within the Treasure Valley um it's special to be a part of and um if you're looking for ways to get it get connected just put yourself out there I mean that's like been one of the biggest things that's uh brought us joy living in Boise just like going to try the new restaurant going to try a run club um you know maybe it's cross food casual maybe it's I don't know anything there's just so much to do here Jade Burriel thanks good job thanks boom how'd it go what you think? You're really good at asking questions. Tried yeah cool thanks for giving me all the sauce on real estate that was kind of like we spoke about some other things too but um yeah I think it's gonna be mostly business focused so and I just those are just the the things that I like talking about too well and I think too like you're gonna have I mean it the conversations are just gonna take you different places but I think it's always like my pet pee when I think I'm gonna go listen to a podcast and it's about this. Like it says it's about this and then they talk about that for like two seconds. Oh so yeah I like when it's kind of like more focused and then you're gonna get a sense of yeah the human as an individual from what they talk about.

SPEAKER_02 57:16

Just their their yap. Yeah. Yeah. Well sick. Thanks for coming by um I don't even know what I'm gonna do now. I might go buy a laptop and download Claude and be like all right Claude do it I was just listening to a podcast I'm just not ready to pull the trigger on like yeah it's scary to trust some system to do it for you.

SPEAKER_01 57:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:40

But I think